On the first anniversary of Belarus’ unprecedented crackdown on the Human Rights Center Viasna (“Viasna”), 20 Belarus,Belarus Crackdown,Belarus Election Fraud,Belarus News,Human Rights,China Human Rights Violations and Belarusian human rights organisations including Amnesty International are launching a campaign to demand the release of seven detained Viasna members and raise awareness of the plight of hundreds of others who have been prosecuted and imprisoned solely for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
Viasna is a leading human rights organisation in Belarus, founded in 1996. Following the disputed presidential elections in August 2020, Viasna has been actively monitoring and documenting human rights violations. Throughout its history, Belarusian authorities have harassed and interfered with Viasna. Viasna was deregistered by the government in 2003, and despite several attempts to re-register, the organisation has been obliged to continue its work without legal recognition. Ales Bialiatski, the Chair, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for tax evasion in 2011. He served nearly three years of his sentence before being released in an amnesty in 2014.
Marfa Rabkova, the coordinator of Viasna’s volunteer network, was arrested on September 17, 2020, and has been held in pre-trial custody ever since. She faces up to 12 years in prison after being charged with “training and other preparation of persons for involvement in mass riots,” “incitement of racial, national, religious, or other social hatred or discord perpetrated by a group,” and “membership of a criminal organisation.”
Andrei Chepyuk, a volunteer for Viasna in Minsk, was detained on 2 October 2020 and is charged with ‘participation in mass disorder’ and ‘membership of a criminal organization’. He could face up to seven years in prison.
Leanid Sudalenka, the director of the Homel branch of Viasna, was detained on his way to the office on 18 January 2021. Sudalenka had provided legal assistance to dozens of Homel region residents who were detained and charged for their participation in post-election protests.
Tatsyana Lasitsa, an activist who volunteers for Viasna in Homel, was detained on 21 January 2021, and is charged with ‘organization or participation in group actions that gravely violate public order’. She could face up to three years’ imprisonment.
Another volunteer of the Homel branch of Viasna, Maryia Tarasenka, was detained on 18 January 2021. She was held for three days before being released on 21 January 2021 after she agreed to sign a pledge not to leave the country.
Leanid Sudalenka, Tatsyana Lasitsa, and Maryia Tarasenka, all members of Viasna’s Homel branch, are charged with “organising, financing, training, and preparation of actions grossly breaking public order and financing such operations” under parts 1 and 2 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code. They might face up to three years in prison if found guilty.
Viasna branches in Minsk, Homel, Mahilyou, Vitsebsk, Brest, and other towns, as well as the houses of Viasna employees, were raided by Belarusian law enforcement agents on February 16, 2021. The Belarusian Investigative Committee, which is in charge of criminal investigations, initiated a criminal prosecution against Viasna in March 2021, citing Article 342 of the Criminal Code (“planning and arranging actions that significantly breach public order, or active involvement in such actions”).
Ales Bialiatski, the chair of Viasna, Valiantsin Stefanovich, a member of the Viasna Board and vice-president of the International Federation of Human Rights, and Uladzimir Labkovich, a Viasna lawyer, were detained on 14 July 2021, following raids on more than a dozen major Belarusian civil society and human rights organisations, including Viasna, by Belarusian law enforcement officers. They’ve all been charged with tax evasion under Article 342 and Article 243(2), which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.
According to Amnesty International’s press release,Viasna’s retaliation is part of a larger crackdown in Belarus on civic society. Only 53 entities were ordered to shut by the Ministry of Justice on July 22, 2021. More than 200 civil society organisations have been or are being shut down at this time.
The collaborative effort #FreeViasna, which asks for the Viasna seven to be released immediately, urges Belarusian authorities to:
Organisations urge the authorities to respect all people’s right to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and speech as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.respect and protect human rights defenders’ work, and ensure that everyone has the right to complain about individual officials’ and government bodies’ policies and actions, as well as to offer and provide professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and assistance in defending human rights and foundations.
They also demand the release Marfa Rabkova, Andrei Chepyuk, Tatyana Lasitsa, Leanid Sudalenka, Ales Bialatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, and Uladzimir Labkovich immediately and unconditionally, drop charges against them, Maryia Tarasenka, and other Viasna staff and volunteers, and ensure their right to a remedy for unlawful persecution, in accordance with these obligations.
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